Lucy had learnt not to take things for granted; from a young age she had come to understand the meaning of loss. In the blink of an eye everything you held dear could be taken away, her mother... she had been the centre of Lucy's universe. Always ready with a smile to comfort a saddened Lucy, read her book when she was plagued with nightmares, and she always knew what to say to push Lucy in the right direction.
And then she died... gone where Lucy could never see her again. And with her mother's death her father was as good as gone, burying himself in work to distract himself from his pain, but in his desperate attempt to forget, he forgot Lucy along the way.
Her constant companion as a child was loneliness; she wasn't allowed to leave the estate to play with other children of her age, to make friends. She played make believe with her teddies, giving them names and personalities with interesting back stories. She played hide and seek but no one ever came to find her.
Eventually she gave up. She buried herself in books and threw herself into her studies, perhaps in some vain attempt to please her father.
The last straw though was the arranged marriage. She had never even met the man before but it appeared he was the highest bidder and Lucy was livid, she wanted to please her father but she wasn't willing to go that far. To enter a loveless marriage with a man double her age, to produce heirs like a mare only for them to live like she had; sheltered and lonely. Not a chance! She wanted adventure and excitement, to explore the world and make friends. She was tired of reading about places and other people's adventures; she wanted what all the hero and heroines of her novels had.
Freedom.
She had lived in a gilded cage with no hope but one day she picked up her mother's keys and summoned her first spirit. She was a mage just like her mother and with these keys she was no longer lonely.
The only problem was, she wasn't strong enough to hold the gates open for long so the feeling of companionship was fleeting.
Cancer would comb her hair, Lyra would sing her lullabies, Hologorium would shelter her when she felt sad or cold, Crux would tell her stories of the celestial world and of all the different stellar spirits and Aquarius... well despite her anger and irritable personality Lucy found she didn't really mind it, anger for Aquarius was just another form of caring and provided Lucy with the dose of normality she needed.
She loved all her spirits but they could only dull the constant ache in her heart.
She ran away from home. The uncertainty of the unknown almost made her back up but she needed this freedom, she needed to escape her sheltered life.
'Lucy?'
'Natsu... Lucy's making a weird face.'
'No Happy she'sthinking, she always makes that face when she's thinking.'
'I am not making a weird face.' She muttered. Both boys stopped chatting and looked up at Lucy with twin expressions of concern. Thinking about the past always drained her mentally and emotionally, she treasured everyone dearly, especially Natsu and Happy but at times when she thought back to her old loneliness she would feel a heavy weight press down on her heart. 'You guys should head home; I'm not really feeling great at the moment.' She said in the same lack lustre voice as before.
She stood from her desk and dropped onto her bed with her back to Happy and Natsu.
'Luce...?' She heard the worry in Natsu voice and she knew she was being silly but she still didn't respond to the question in his voice. 'Ok Lucy we'll leave you alone but come find us when you're feeling better ok?' She nodded into her pillow. She heard him sigh before walking past her bed to her window with Happy in tow.
